Title not yet known
by Alliance THE
Summary: Four friend are transported across the universe by forces beyond teir control. Will they ever reach home or will The Dark Eye Resistance (TDER) complete their evil plan? Please R
1. Lloyd wake up Lloyd

Title not yet known 

"Lloyd, wake up Lloyd."

The Professor threw a book at the sleeping boy.

"Honestly Lloyd you're the only boy I know who can sleep standing up," Lloyd picked himself off the floor and wiped the dust off his red coat, his brown hair respiking above his head.

"I'm sorry Professor er…is class over?"

"No Lloyd," said the Professor her silvery elfin hair flowing round her shoulders. "Now get out your textbook. We'll be studying history with the rise of the LABick Empire."

The Professor looked round the wooden classroom. It had once been so different. She knew from her past experience. Before the rebellion 50 years ago the classroom had running water, central heating and electric lighting. When the LABick Empire agreed to leave they took all their technology with them. You could still see ships in the sky but they never landed. Without LABick technology the planet had been plunged into a new dark age. The teenagers that filled the room would never know about LAB except through the precious few old history books. The Professor looked around the classroom, her best student was Virgil; he had a real grip of all subjects. Charlotte was almost as bright but preferred not to let on just how bright. Then there was Lloyd; he never seemed to take in what she was talking about. She only managed to get him to read by telling him that warriors needed to read and write. Virgil was not only her brightest pupil but also her brother. Both elves had a love of knowledge but in another 50 years all this knowledge will have probably disappeared.

"Virgil can you tell us about the rise of LAB?"

"Certainly Professor. A self-confessed computer wiz kid created LAB, the planet, as his own adaptable planet. He created the first solid planet out of digital code…"

"I'm sorry, digital what?" interrupted Charlotte's silvery voice. Charlotte was a beautiful girl thought the Professor with her blonde hair falling below Charlotte's well-defined shoulders.

"Digital code," the Professor explained. "Is the way of getting something to do your maths for you although it can be used for other things and Hadrian the first Emperor of LAB used it to build his planet. Carry on Virgil."

"Yes, anyway," continued Virgil. "Hadrian found the adaptable digital code allowed him to create anything he wanted and so he and his childhood friend General Adam decided to build an army and forge one of the first intergalactic Empires. Of cause this was over 10,000 years ago and the Emperor 60 years ago was an utter idiot and that was why we the Aerthians rebelled. It's a good thing that Emperor Edward XVIII had some good advisers and decided not to attack us because we would have bashed the bleeders to…"

"Thank you Virgil you may stop there," The Professor finished as Virgil bashfully sat down. The Professor was about to launch into one of her famous lectures when the hourglass turned over signalling the end of school.

"Saved by the glass," said Lloyd to Virgil on the way out of the creaking room.

"Lloyd school is a valuable use of time," retorted Virgil.

"Not for me. I'm going to join the Aerthian army," said Lloyd tapping his crude homemade steal swords. "My one true skill, being able to use a sword."

"You're not wrong there," Virgil teased as they passed the school gate.

"Hey, just 'cause you're a right genius."

"Yeah, I am 'Virgil the Genius'. Ha. Ha."

The wind whistled in the Char trees. The trees always had a way of calming the boy's agitations. The scent was the most calming in the former LABick Empire the Aerthians made a calming perfume from the Char tree's nectar.

"Hey guys wait up," Charlotte shouted. Her white and blue dress over trousers flapped around her waist; bag banging against her back as she ran.

"You said you would wait for me," she wheezed. "You promised you'd go to the Iron Ring today with me, remember."

"Damn, I forgot I'm sorry Charlotte. Really I am," Lloyd said. "We'll go as soon as I've dropped my books at home."

Lloyd's house was the largest in the village, which was strange as it was outside the village defences and on the verge with the forest but Lloyd's dad, Douglas, had heavily fortified the house. Few siege weapons could even make a dent on Douglas's vast steel and oak creation. This thing emanated the idea that you should stay away. Only Douglas and Lloyd's friends could dare approach with out being driven off by the mere presence of this "castle". The Iron Ring was only one mile to the north of Douglas' "house". Douglas hadn't really approved of them visiting the stones but Colette's of powers of persuasion were such that she eventually got Douglas to let them go after mentioning it was for school.

The Iron ring had been on Aerth for thousands of years but no one had used it for at least 300 years. No one even knew what it was for. But Charlotte had made it her school project to find out.

"Hey Charlotte there is nothing here but some old standing steel," remarked Lloyd. He was right of cause. There was nothing here but 30 odd columns of iron in a 300-metre circle. The only two anomalies were that the tallest of these columns was covered in red writing of an unknown language or alphabet and one of the columns had been roughly cut in half. It was said by the people of the village that Douglas had stolen the other half of the column to build his fortress.

"I think we should set up a dig site here," suggested Virgil. He indicated the area near the largest column. "This column seems the most important. We're most likely to find something here."

"OK, I'll get the trowels," replied Lloyd. "Er Charlotte what are we going to do if we do find something?"

"We'll catalogue it and take it to The Professor, obviously."

As they started to dig into the cloying reddish mud they found… nothing. Absolutely nothing. After digging a hole 50cm deep they hit rock bottom.

"Well we can't dig any further," remarked Lloyd. "We should give up and go home."

"Oh come on Lloyd stop being such a spoil sport," Charlotte complained.

"But there is nothing here just a load of thousand year old iron."

"You know I've been thinking about this," interrupted Virgil. "If you leave iron outside for a few days what happens?"

"It rusts of cause," Lloyd said.

"Exactly, this iron has been here for thousands of years and yet there as black and shiny as it would have been on the day it was made. Something is stopping this iron from rusting."

"So."

"So we've got to find out why."

"Why?"

"Oh Lloyd, just widen the hole and wipe the mud from the bottom."

When they removed the mud from the bottom of the hole they saw they had not hit bedrock at all but a huge surface of iron. As they widened the hole they realised the iron must be the base of the ring buried over the centuries.

"Lloyd you're the fastest runner, go get my sister she'll know what to do," instructed Virgil, as they slowly uncovered a blueish circle about ten feet wide covered in inscriptions. Elves lived for hundreds of years, about ten times slower than Aerthians. This meant they were often very wise and The Professor, being 250 had lived long enough to receive a LABick education and as such could read 50 ancient and modern languages in 40 alphabets including LABick. Virgil on the other hand was only 120 and had been educated by The Professor along with the other children in the village.

"What do you think it is Virgil?" asked Charlotte.

"I have no idea to be honest. But it can't be a LABick ruin because LAB only colonised Aerth 3000 years ago and these ruins are at least 15000 years old. LAB scientists dated them so we know it's right; they never got things wrong."

"You know I think we should get Douglas to help us as well he is great with metal. He is a dwarf after all."

"Oh all right he can help but if he tries to take it apart I'll send him packing."

"Virgil you're Lloyd's closest friend. You must know why Lloyd has a dwarf for a dad."

"Well I'm not sure I should tell you… but I'm sure Lloyd wont mind. You see Lloyd wasn't born on Aerth like you and me he and his mother were in a LABick transport ship that crashed near Douglas' house. Lloyd was fine but his mother was mortally injured. The rest of the passengers were killed in the crash but Lloyds mum managed to live long enough to make sure Lloyd was safe with Douglas and…"

"Hey guys I brought The Professor," Lloyd shouted as he and The Professor ran over the hill. The Professor had donned her green and brown archaeological overalls, which clashed horribly with her blueish-white hair.

"Lloyd tells me you've found something interesting you would like me to look at," The Professor said as she stepped into the now vast hole. She walked round the hole looking at the writing on the blue disk; she traced the writing with her finger, thought for a bit, checked one of the books she carried in her rucksack looked at the writing again and finally turned to the teenagers.

"Well there are three sets of writing here in the same alphabet. One is ancient LABick, the old LABick of the time of Hadrian I, another is Aerthian and the last is an ancient language I've only ever seen once. The writing in LABick says that the following two languages say the same thing. Although the rest of the writing has been badly damaged so much so I can hardly make it out. Look here come on the circle and take a look." The teens carefully walked onto the circle and looked at where The Professor was pointing. "This rune says 'Alche' which means travel and this rune I can just make out as the word meaning 'planet' the one I can't make out is this one here." She pointed to the last rune on the disk. It was a very badly scratched rune almost impossible to see. "In this language, Ahcron, the last rune in a sentence is very important. This one either means stop or much more likely it means start of in this language 'fleage'-"

The Professor was cut short as a blue beam swept them all up into a massive dark cloud and all it left were the trowels and The Professor's book on LABick history.


	2. No you'll screw it up

Lloyd was the first to recover.

"What, where are we?" asked Lloyd. He looked around the barren landscape. In the distance there was a large mine where a massive smoke plume rose out of a hole in a hill. There was no soil on top of the red stone and dust but there was a large green splurge in the far distance.

"Professor where are we? This doesn't look like Aerth. Professor? Professor wake up!"

He shook the Professor awake.

"Lloyd stop shaking me," The Professor looked around and went pale. "Lloyd where are we?"

"I was hoping you could tell me Professor." Virgil and Charlotte were just getting up off the floor.

"This is another planet obviously," said Virgil. "Possibly Mars or Sram both are mining planets for the LABick Empire and judging by the mine in the distance and the forest over there this is Sram."

The others stood agog.

"Where on Aerth did you learn that?" asked The Professor.

"Well, you are not the only one to read the old history books, you know."

"Professor," said Lloyd. "Professor there are probably people in that mine, we should head there."

"Yes, for once in your life you're right Lloyd."

"Hey!"

The four Aerthians got up and started their march for the mine. It was a long arduous slog covering a rocky outcrop, a desert like area and passing a small pond, the kind Aerthians kept as decoration only this one harboured a creature that looked like a cross between a frog and a shark. The further they travelled the further away the mine seemed. A sulphurous reek came from the numerous geysers and presumably the colossal volcano in the incredibly far distance.

As they reached the mine they saw the sign saying.

'Sram Iron Mine

This is an almost totally unmanned mine. Only the security guard lives here.

So thieves. PUSH OFF!'

"Oh it's unmanned. We're doomed to this planet forever!" cried Charlotte.

"Charlotte it's _almost_ unmanned," said Lloyd. "The security guard will help. He must at least have a pen and paper with which we can write home."

The blood stained door opened with a rusty squeak. Rust powder poured off the hinges and an electric light switched on. All the teenagers gasped at what they thought of as bottled light but The Professor was merely surprised at the first light bulb she had seen for 50 years. Inside there was a stove, a chair, a pack of cards and a small table. There was a few stairs to an upstairs room. There was an incredible stench coming from under the door of the room Lloyd took to be a toilet.

"Hello," shouted Lloyd. "Is any one at mine?"

"What?" croaked a voice from upstairs. "If it's salesmen I don't want nothin'"

Both elves shuddered at the double negative as a creaking and banging came from upstairs. Soon a large grimy and stinking man in a grubby uniform climbed down the stairs belching and swearing. He also carried a low power laser, the first The Professor had seen for 53 years.

"Who the blooming hell are you?" he exclaimed. "You're not from round here are ya?"

"Of cause we're not. The only thing on Sram is this almost unmanned mine," steamed Virgil.

"Look I'm sorry about Virgil he's just a little tense right now," said Charlotte in her nicest and most silvery. "We just want to go home and we are currently stranded on this planet."

"Can't help ya I'm afraid," replied the security guard. "Official LAB building this. And there ain't no supply ships for another two years."

"TWO YEARS!" cried the Aerthians.

"Look you drugged up moron," Lloyd punctuated his words by pointing to the throat of the guard with one of his swords. "Do you have a way of getting a ship here earlier?"

"No I don't even have a hand radio and a ship would take weeks to get here. But hey you folks can at least have some nice bean casserole. I make it with nine kinds of beans."

All the Aerthians groaned at the idea of nine kind of beans prepared by this disgusting individual.

"No er… can we just take some food to go?" asked Virgil. "We need to find another way home."

"Yeah sure," said the guard. "Lets see we got tinned beans, baked beans, butter beans, green beans er… oh yeah and lots of jelly beans." While he said this he piled tins and bags and boxes into a bag. "Here ya're if ya run into another mine just tell the guard Fry sent you."

"Your name is Fry?"

"Did I say it was? Fry is just what my boss thinks I'm called." Said Fry. "Now off ya go."

"Thank you sir," called Charlotte as they left.

"No problem miss," he replied.

A feeling of gloom descended on the group as they walked away from the mine. There was no where for them to go and no way of getting home. There were not even Char trees to calm their nerves.

"How are we going home get home Professor?" asked Lloyd after the third hour of their walk.

"I don't know Lloyd," replied The Professor. "I don't even know how we got here."

"Well, it could have been the fact you said start on a blue disc which was under the Iron ring," said Virgil.

"Hey," said The Professor. "How was I supposed to know this would happen?"

"Well you're the professor," retorted Virgil.

"Look Virgil I'm 100 years your senior. You can't talk like that to me."

"Hey come on cool it you two," said Lloyd trying to stop the fight before it started.

"Shut up Lloyd!" said the elves in unison. Charlotte had not been with the group for some time. She was fixed on a point in the distance.

"Guys," she said then to be heard. "GUYS"

"What?" shouted the others mid brawl.

"If we came via the Iron ring; would it be possible to get by it?" Charlotte asked.

"Theoretically yes but the Iron ring is on Aerth where we want to go," replied The Professor.

"Not this one," said Charlotte. The others looked at the where she was pointing. There was another Iron ring on the far hill. It was very similar to the one on Aerth but probably only had twenty columns at the most. One here was also hewn in half.

"Could it be?" asked The Professor.

"Come on," said Lloyd as he, Virgil and Charlotte started for the ring. As they approached they saw the column hewn in half was covered in buttons and screens the kind of stuff The Professor was taught in school. The ring had never been covered and the blue disc was clearly visible, although here too the writing had been badly scratched.

"Could we get back through this?" asked Charlotte. The same thought had crossed through everybody's mind. "Well Professor, can you get us back? And what do all these buttons mean?"

"I'm not sure but they could indicate co-ordinates," said The Professor.

"What are co-ordinates?" asked Lloyd.

"They show where things are in numbers," replied Virgil before The Professor could answer. "I believe Aerth's co-ordinates 35,56,99,"

"No," argued The Professor as she pushed Virgil off the control panel. "It's 45.66.21."

"Hey," said Virgil pushing more buttons.

"Hey you two; you'll screw it up," cut in Lloyd. As Lloyd tended to do he cut in literally with his swords and started yet another brawl.

"At least we're safe as long as no one says that start word," commented Charlotte.

"What?" asked Lloyd in between punches.

"You know that word," she said. "It's something like flene or fleange."

"Oh cra-"


	3. Dont be a birk Virgil

Once again it was Lloyd who was the first to recover.

"Where the hell are we now?" he asked. Then he looked round. "Oh gods this looks like the grand square on earth."

"Your not wrong there mate," said a small man with an incredibly large suitcase. "Grand plaza, Harwell, Earth and the greatest place in the galaxy. 'Cept LAB of 'cause." The other Aerthians got up and spread out a little. The square was about 500ft wide and 600ft long; the first emperor was never very good at maths. The square had four main entrances, Grand avenue, Hadrian Plaza, Edward's grand road and Jeremy's street. In the middle of the square there was a statue of Hadrian in his younger years. No one much liked the statue but no one could bring themselves to do it. It was after all, solid gold.

The square was swarming with businessmen. The empire needed vast amounts of accountancy because of all the taxes swarming into the capital of the empire. The Empresses' grand palace (the emperor's was on LAB) was at the head of the square where all the small men with large briefcases were headed.

"I've always wanted to see the grand square," said the professor in awe of the detailed stonework of the buildings. "It's even true what they say. The streets are paved with gold."

"Actually sis its magnesium. Twenty times more valuable than gold." Said Virgil. "They must replace it every time it rains."

"Actually it doesn't rain here. The entire city has a glass roof." The elves looked round.

"Don't look at me," said Charlotte.

"Lloyd?" said The Professor astonished.

"What? I may not like school but I do pay attention," he said. "When I'm awake," he corrected himself.

"Well if you're so clever you get us out of here," said Virgil annoyed that someone he considered a bit of an idiot had thwarted his intelligence.

"This is earth right?" said Lloyd, he seemed to have already thought about it. "They have technology to take you anywhere. So we just catch a transport home."

"Yeah!" cried Charlotte and Virgil enthusiastically.

"That may not be as easy as it sounds," warned The Professor. "Earth nowadays isn't the same as it was 1000 years ago in your history books. It is now a tangle of red tape and regulations I used to know a man who went completely mad trying to find the main reception desk in his own building. We might not be able to get a transport for months years!"

"What!" The others were astonished. They had thought a planet with such powerful technology would easily be able to get them home. Little did they know of the situation. It took a permit to go to eat out of your own home nowadays. The only real way of getting off the planet these days was for you to highjack a transport owned by an old foegie who finally got a permit after applying at 17.

"My Dad had a friend who lived on earth we should go see him," said The Professor. "He lived in Amesbury"

"Amesbury!" said Virgil. "I know my geography and Amesbury is almost 100 miles from Harwell. It will take days to get there."

"Of cause not Virgil not be a birk," shouted The Professor. "This is Earth they have alternatives to walking. We'll take the Magnet train. We'll be there within the hour at least we would if it wasn't 12:59." The magnet train was emperor Fred XI only achievement. He had poured all the empires taxes in to the network of floating trains that crisscrossed all the major planets surfaces. It showed the LABick Empire's pure industrial power in that it only took 3 weeks to build. "The station is probably in the next street."

AUTHORS NOTE

Harwell is the capital of earth not the LABick Empire however Harwell is where the taxes are counted and it is in Harwell where LAB scientists conduct their experiments and mass-produce their super technology.


	4. Another ring

The train was truly was an awe-inspiring sight. Double Decker, each car ten meters long and gleaming white streaked with blue (LAB's national colours). At the back of the engine car was a funnel out of which steam poured at a tremendous rate. It was the pinnacle of LABick ingenuity. Like Isambard Kingdom Brunnel's old idea the cars were between the huge wheels, which meant that the already smooth ride was even smoother. Economic, doing 40 miles to the cubic metre, while still ecological, as all it releases is steam. The tickets were easily to get hold of however The Professor had to trade in her jade broach to pay for the tickets. Once inside the group realised how spacious and luxurious the train really was. The carriage had wide-open spaces between the small tables and chairs and there was a bar on one side of the carriage. This was one of the lounge areas in which the group would be sitting during the journey, if the group were going further then they would move into the compartments. The train quickly picked up speed and the group arrived at Amesbury about 2:30. Amesbury Station was a lot smaller than the one at Harwell but Aylesbury had become, contrary to its brief but highly profitable time as the world computer manufacturer, a mere travellers stop on the way to and from bigger better places. Amesbury was however much more developed than some unterreformable planets, which had only a science station.

The Professor, after consulting the "You are here map" at the station, led them to a small hotel on the edge of the town, which was very close the awe-inspiring Stonehenge. It, the group imagined, was once a very nice four or five star hotel but a centaury of neglect had left it with pealing paint and crumbling stone. The bog oak door creaked so loud when Lloyd opened it that you could hardly hear the bell that hung above the door.

An attractive young teenage girl stood behind a desk reading a magazine. Virgil having noticed the ring bell for service sign obligingly rang the bell on the desk. After nothing happened he rang it again and again and again. The teenager who was getting progressively angrier finally snapped.

"WILL YOU STOP RINGING THAT INFIRNAL BELL I'M TRYING TO READ?"

"But it says ring bell for service." protested Virgil.

"Oh right," The girl quickly put on a kind informative tone. "Welcome to the Imperial Hotel. How can I help you?"

"We are looking for a Mr. Keamon Frogger is he here?" said The Professor hitting Virgil smartly on the back of the head as she passed.

"We have a Mr. Frogger here but Keamon Frogger died almost 100 years ago. Would you like to see his grand son Mr. Kanakisho Frogger?"

"Yes, that would be lovely," replied The Professor hiding her astonishment astoundingly well.

The teenager walked through a door at the back of the room and after a few moments came back with in, the eyes of Charlotte and The Professor, the dreamiest man alive. He was tall and muscular with long brown hair, which had the most delightful sheen. He looked like the type of guy you would expect to see in a gym working the weights or running on a treadmill. All of this was then squeezed into a purple suit that showed off his mucsles while not looking a tight fit. Lloyd thought he was just a show off.

"How may I help you Ladies… and gents?" said Kanakisho in a deep hunky voice.

"We were hoping we could stay here a while my father was a friend of your grand father. You see we are lost in the LABick Empire. We are from the small planet that rebelled about 50 years ago. You see we need a transport out of here and a place to stay until we can get a permit."

The train was truly was an awe-inspiring sight. Double Decker, each car ten meters long and gleaming white streaked with blue (LAB's national colours).

"Well I'm sure you can stay here for a while if very great grandpa promised, however you're description of the planet doesn't help me much. You see," he said while running a hand through his brown hair. "50 years ago The Dark Eye Resistance organised a rebellion including over 500 planets-"

"I am terribly sorry Kanakisho but what is The black face thingy," interrupted Charlotte.

"The Dark Eye Resistance (TDER) is an organisation that is trying to overthrow the emperor and replace him with a better relative. At least that's what they say they want. Although that rebellion was devastating for the empire and they had to let go of less valuable a planet such as small farming planets like yours because you know our technology was at risk." He stopped and paused for breath. "And miss please call me Frogger."

"But are we allowed to stay here?" asked Lloyd hands twitching to grasp their swords.

"Oh sure," replied Frogger not showing any reaction to Lloyd's swords. "I'll give the top floor. Their probably wont be any travellers at anytime soon because it isn't travelling season yet." Then he seemed to sigh at his bad career choice. "Plus people tend to sleep on the train now."

"Thank you Frogger the top floor is more than we probably even need," said The Professor taking the keys from the desk and heading up the stairs and added. "And what time is dinner served?"

"Eight o'clock Greenwich Mean Time Earth," said Frogger as he perked up again at the thought of having guests and rushed off to the kitchen.

Everyone was out of breath except Lloyd when they reached the top floor but he was no less amazed or thankful when the walked in the room. Everyone was now used to light bulbs but this was amazing. Their were huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and were reflected in the gargantuan wall to wall TV, there was a large bathroom where The Professor thought she would feel really clean for the first time in 50 years, four bedrooms lined the wall adjacent to the TV and opposite that were huge windows offering a panoramic view of Amesbury. Inside the huge living room (lounge for my American readers) were three large poofy chairs and two four-seater sofas. This room even amazed The Professor as she had always thought this level comfort was for the exceedingly wealthy and yet here it all was in a slightly run down hotel. It was very confusing but of cause everything here was confusing for the other Aerthians except Lloyd who only cared if it might be a threat. At least until he accidentally turned TV then he cared very much and seemed to transform into a couch potato within seconds.

"I'm going to see if I can find a government building and apply for a transport permit," said The Professor as Virgil looked out the window and Charlotte sat on the sofa.

"I wouldn't if I were you sis," replied Virgil eyes fixed on the town.

"And just why not?" said the Professor as she walked to the window and looked were Virgil was pointing. "Oh my."

There was a group of standing stones some were tall, some were small, some had fallen over and although it wasn't iron, it was inarguably another ring.


End file.
